ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.

5.

ACT I. SCENE I.

This dotage of our general's."

This, says Mr. Malone, "of our general's," (and Mr. Steevens brings his authority to enforce the imputed censure) was the common phraseology of Shakspeare's time; and that gentleman might have added, of all the intermediate times down to our own, inclusive.-A tenant of my lord's, a servant of the duke's, that tongue of his, that trick of hers, are phrases which have been current alike in the days of Shakspeare, Swift, and this of Mr. Malone himself: they are not ungrammatical, but elliptic; by this dotage of our general's, is implied this vice or habit of dotage among the vices or habits of our general. A tenant of my lord's, a servant of the duke's, that tongue of his, that trick of hers, denote a tenant among the tenants of my lord, a servant among the servants of the duke, that faculty or talent of speaking among his talents or faculties, that trick among her tricks, &c. it is not a useless duplication of the genitive case, but two efficient and necessary genitives. See Note on K. Henry VIII. Act 1, Scene 2, Page of these Remarks 394, Vol. I. 7. "The triple pillar."

As "

"triple," here, for "third," so, in As You Like It, we find "thrice," for "triple :"

"Thou thrice-crowned queen of night," &c.

8. "Nay, hear them, Antony."

When a hemistic like this occurs, there is generally reason to suspect corruption. If Cleopatra uttered only these words, she might as well have been silent; for Antony had just expressed his willingness to hear the messenger's news, or the sum of it, though it did "grate him." The addition of an obvious word or two would reconcile the sense, and supply the deficient metre : The sum."

Ant. ""

Cleop. "Nay, hear them all, I pr'ythee, Antony."

"His powerful mandate to you, Do this, or

this."

This line, I think, has suffered injury in the transcription. I suppose it should be:

"His powerful mandate, Do you this, or this." "Perchance," &c.

Here again the measure falls into disorder. I would read:

"Perchance,-nay, and most like, you must not

поче

"Stay longer here; for your dismissíón
"From Cæsar comes; so hear it, Antony :'

"Take in that kingdom," &c.

i. e. Bring it within the pale of the Roman government.

This word, which impairs the force of the sarcasm, and loads the metre, is, I am persuaded, interpolation.

9. "Is Cæsar's homager: else so thy cheek pays shame."

The particle "so" is not necessary here, and overloads the verse.

The wide arch

Of the rang'd empire fall !".

The arch (or superb dome, figurative of Roman grandeur,) was wide in proportion to the range or excursive scope of the Roman dominion: but rang'd" may refer to the order and distribution of the empire, as settled among the Triumviri; and, indeed, this sense seems to be confirmed by the words immediately following: "here is my space;" i. e. this little plot, Egypt, I prefer to all my share besides of the wide world.

I lament that none of the commentators has deigned to instruct us as to the difference between pair" and "twain," here. Is this the meaning?-Two such lovers, with reference to their distinct reciprocal ardours, and to those ardours in union.

"We stand up peerless."

Excellent falshood!"

This, with the established accentuation of falshood," will not give the metre: we might, only changing the adjective to the participle, and adding the natural apostrophe, read,

Ant. "We stand up peerless."
Cleop." O excelling falshood!"

10. "Let's not confound the time with conference harsh."

"Confound," I believe, has a stronger meaning than Mr. Malone allots to it, (consume) and implies to throw-into perplexity and distraction. The word occurs, I think, in the same sense, in King Henry IV. First Part; where Hotspur, speaking of Mortimer's contest with Glendower,

says,

"He did confound the best part of an hour, "In changing hardiment," &c.

"Consume," here, would seem a very feeble interpretation of "confound; yet such, I find, is the explanation of it by Mr. Malone.

SCENE II.

13. "O, that I knew this husband, which, you say, must change his horns with gar

lands !"

I am inclined to think Charmian means to exclaim" O, that I had such a husband as you speak of! one who, instead of repining at his dishonours, would construe every one of them into a triumph." This interpretation, indeed, would seem to require "for," instead of "with ;" but the prepositions were commonly confounded.I perceive that Mr. Steevens is, substantially, of my opinion, but with this difference: I do not think that Charmian meant that the husband should know he was a cuckold, but only, by mistake, should interpret his disgraces into compli

ments.

17.

A fairer former fortune," &c.

"A fairer fortune" is differently understood by the different speakers: the soothsayer uses it for a more prosperous one; Charmian takes it to mean a more reputable one.

LORD CHEDWORTH.

21. Against my brother Lucius ?"

Ay."

The messenger's breeding would have taught him not to leave the line thus defective; he would have said

"Stiff" is stubborn, inflexible; as we still say stubborn facts.

23. "Have power to utter. O, then we bring forth weeds,

"When our quick winds lie still; and our
ills told us,
"Is as our earing.".

"Then" might be omitted, as it is implied in the corresponding adverb. By "our quick winds," I understood, our active energies, which, when neglected, or suffered to lie torpid, permit the growth of weeds; and then to be told of our omissions, and the ill consequence of them, like the plowing up a rank soil, bestirs and rouses us to wholesome exertions. I cannot exclude a suspicion that part of the obscurity here is occasioned by that unhappy propensity to "palter with us in a double sense :' 66 our earing," besides its agricultural meaning, appears to signify, giving ear-to, listening, hearing.